NBC Sports' coverage of Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico drew 9.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched Preakness since 2009, and the fourth most-watched dating back to 1990.

The viewership for the race is up 20 percent from last year's Preakness (8.1 million), according to official national data provided Tuesday by The Nielsen Company.

The WBAL TV broadcast in Baltimore had a household rating of 15.7/32 making Baltimore the top metered market in the nation for the 138th Preakness.

On average 15.7 percent of all television-equipped households in Baltimore were tuned in to the Preakness on WBAL TV at any given moment, while 32 percent of households watching TV in Baltimore were tuned into the Preakness telecast on WBAL TV during this time slot.

It is the fourth most-watched Preakness dating back to 1990, surpassed only by the aforementioned 2009 race, the 2006 Preakness, which featured Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro (10.1 million), and the 2004 Preakness, won by Smarty Jones (11.6 million).

The household rating of 5.9/14 is up 13 percent from last year's race (5.2/13), the highest since 2009 (6.8/16), and the second best since 2006 (6.6/16).

The Preakness viewership gains follow the Kentucky Derby, which drew 16.2 million viewers on NBC, making it the second most-watched Kentucky Derby since 1989. The viewership was up nine percent from last year's Derby (14.8 million) and up 12 percent from the Derby in 2011 (14.5 million).